Shadows of Time
by jimra
Summary: After solving the legitimate fiancee problems, Ranma and Akane vanish under mysterious circumstances, only to appear eighteen years in the future.
1. Prologue: Vanishing Lives

Shadows of Time

A Ranma ½ / Sailor Moon Crossover fanfic by jimra

Characters from Ranma 1/2 are owned by Takahashi Rumiko and characters from Sailor Moon are owned by Takeuchi Naoko. No infringement is intended by the writing of this story.

Author's Note: So that no one thinks that this is a cop-out, this story was originally posted as 'Disappearance,' and I later removed that story, thinking to absorb it into another of my stories. That didn't work out, and after some brainstorming, I came up with goal for the story and a way for it to stand on its own, so here it is in its new incarnation.

Prologue: Vanishing Lives

--

The flight from Okinawa to Narita seemed to take forever, but the young couple that was just returning from their honeymoon on the small island were truly in no hurry. Ranma held Akane's hand in his and kissed his young wife on the cheek for no apparent reason. Akane smiled back at Ranma.

"So," said Ranma. "Do you think much has changed back home?"

"Oh come on, Ranma," Akane replied. "We've only been gone two weeks."

"Yeah...I suppose our being gone wouldn't change things that much."

The newly-weds' conversation was interrupted by the sound of the captain's voice. "Attention passengers. We are now making our final approach to Narita International Airport in Tokyo. Please fasten all safety belts and make sure that all tray-tables and seats are in the fully upright and locked position. I hope you have enjoyed your flight."

After complying with the captain's request, neither Akane nor Ranma could keep a silly grin from their faces. It would be good to get back to the dojo.

Akane reflected on how her life had changed since Ranma and his father had walked into her life nearly a year and a half ago. At the time, she couldn't believe that her father would engage her to someone she had just met, but now she couldn't be happier. Life through out the first year of their engagement had been nothing short of sheer insanity. There had been numerous fiancées and rivals for Ranma, and Akane didn't think anyone could beat her record for the most times kidnapped by royalty in a single year. Still, the major turning point had been that horrible wedding fiasco.

Since then, Ranma had done an admirable job in tying up his loose ends. Akane still didn't know how, but Ranma had somehow convinced Ukyou that he wasn't going to marry her, and then he turned Shampoo's ways against her. The young wife couldn't prevent a slight giggle when she thought of Shampoo married to Mousse because of a love potion Ranma had stolen from Cologne. Everyone had to admit that she deserved it for all those tricks she pulled on Ranma. Cologne, however, would only agree not to cure Shampoo if both Ranma and Akane agreed to join the tribe, and they both had agreed. Their initiation would take place in about two weeks (even Cologne had agreed that the honeymoon could come first).

A small, satisfied smile appeared on Akane's face when she thought of Kodachi's fate: she had had the sole honor and pleasure of tearing that insane gymnast a few new ones. In fact, that one was still in traction when she and Ranma had left on their honeymoon.

Amazingly enough, Ranma and Ryoga were almost the best of friends by the time he had married her, and Ryoga had been his best man. Of course, Ranma had served in that position for Ryoga only half an hour later as the lost boy married Akari. Ryoga and Ranma had had one final fight, just before putting on their tuxedos, right outside the church, just for old time's sake. The match ended in a draw; in fact, it was a double knockout.

Luckily for all involved, Kuno had been on a business trip in San Francisco when the wedding took place, but Akane wondered if they would regret not finding a more permanent solution for their only mutual suitor.

At last, the plane touched down, and it was only a few minutes before they reached the gate. Ranma, sitting closer to the aisle, stood first and began to collect their carry-on luggage from the overhead compartments. That done, Akane followed her husband down the aisle and they exited the aircraft.

Narita Airport wasn't too crowded this early in the morning, so they had little trouble getting to the baggage claim area and collecting their luggage. Finally, they were going to take the train back to Nerima and home.

As the couple walked through the doors of the airport, the ripple came. That was really the only way to describe what happened: it was seen as a distortion, heard as a silent whisper, and felt as a feather's caress. Ranma and Akane gasped and shuddered as the ripple passed over them, but in an instant the effect was over. Two pairs of eyes blinked, and Akane murmured, "What on earth was that?"

"No idea," answered a confused Ranma. "But it doesn't seem to have done anything."

"I guess so," said Akane, unconvinced.

"We'd better hurry or we'll miss our train!"

With that, both martial artists moved from the airport to the nearby train station at a run. This, of course, meant that anyone other than an Olympic sprinter would have found their speed amazing; the sprinter would have just found it highly impressive. Easily catching their train, the two lovers settled in for the trip to Nerima.

--

The street leading to the Tendo dojo seemed in better repair than when they had left, but Akane wasn't really paying attention. With home in sight, there was little either person was thinking about beyond the breakfast that Kasumi would be making. Dawn had just come, and her oldest sister would be just about done with breakfast when she and Ranma arrived.

The gates to the Tendo house were closed, and they didn't budge when Ranma attempted to push them open. Puzzled for a moment, Ranma pushed harder, stopping just short of breaking the faded wood.

"Akane," he said. "Do you have a key to the gate?"

Already fishing in her purse, Akane answered, "I think so...somewhere in here."

Just as Akane pulled the old key from her bag, Ranma said, "Never mind. The lock's rusted shut."

"That's not possible!" Akane exclaimed. "Kasumi cleans and oils it every week!"

"Take a look," Ranma replied in a soft voice. Sure enough, the lock was well rusted beyond the ability of any key to open. All Akane could say was, "That's...strange."

"Well," said Ranma. "Let's just jump the wall then."

Akane nodded, and in a moment, both martial artists were gaping at the completely overgrown garden within the three-meter-tall wall.

"There's no way this coulda happened in two weeks!" said an incredulous Ranma, but the person he was speaking to had already run into the house.

"Dad?" Akane called. "Kasumi? Nabiki? Uncle Saotome?"

Her cries cut off abruptly as she entered the house, Ranma close on her heels. Even as she stared, her husband was already moved away, investigating the situation. Dust covered every exposed surface like the house hadn't been lived in for over a decade. A majority of the furniture was missing, and those pieces that remained were covered in white sheets. Most worrisome of all, there were no prints in the dust save their own.

"What?" said Akane in a fearful voice. "What could have happened to everyone?"

Ranma, who had been exploring other areas of the now abandoned Tendo home, suddenly cried out. "AKANEEE! You need to see this."

Akane rushed through the house at speeds even she didn't think possible, heading for the source of her husband's voice. The path led her upstairs and into her father's room, but the sight that greeted her was more than enough to rob her of both speech and motion.

Ranma stood frozen before the family shrine, and the comforting face of her mother greeted her from a picture within. However, that was not what stopped her. To the right of her mother's picture was a picture of both of them. In fact, it was their wedding photo from a little over two weeks ago.

"Akane..." said Ranma. "Wha...what does this mean?"

--

Author's Notes:

Well, there it is, cleaned up but still mostly still the same. C&C is greatly appreciated. Later all.


	2. Chapter 1: Memories and Dreams

Shadows of Time

A Ranma ½ / Sailor Moon crossover fanfic by jimra

Why on earth would I claim these characters as my own? I mean, honestly! Do I WANT to be sued for every penny I make?

Author's Note: So that no one thinks that this is a cop-out, this story was originally posted as 'Disappearance,' and I later removed that story, thinking to absorb it into another of my stories. That didn't work out, and after some brainstorming, I came up with goal for the story and a way for it to stand on its own, so here it is in its new incarnation.

Chapter One: Memories and Dreams

--

Kasumi hummed to herself as she walked out of the hospital on her way home. She was in a good mood since she would actually be home in time to cook dinner for her daughter, and that was an all too rare occurrence for her conscience. Quickly making her way to the bus stop, Kasumi waited patiently for her transport home from Juuban Municipal Hospital. While she waited, she remembered, and remembering managed to kill most of her good mood.

It had been exactly eighteen years ago yesterday that Akane and Ranma had disappeared while on their honeymoon. They'd left their wedding for a small inn on Okinawa, but when the honeymoon was over, they didn't come back.

As the bus arrived and she began the short ride home, Kasumi recollected all the changes caused by her sister and brother-in-law's disappearance. Nabiki became obsessed with finding the two, and she had even delayed her entrance into Tokyo U to look for them. She bent all her resources, contacts, and time toward her search, and at first, she seemed to make great progress. Only a week after they disappeared, Nabiki had multiple witnesses saying that both Ranma and Akane had boarded the plane from Okinawa and had arrived safely at Narita, but after that, the trail stopped dead. Of course, that didn't stop Nabiki from continuing her search, and Kasumi had watched her sister grow more and more despondent and depressed. There was many a night where Kasumi had held Nabiki as she cried, her inability to find the vanished couple eating her up inside.

Kasumi stared idly out of the bus window at the passing street as she thought about Nabiki. Her middle sister had finally stopped putting everything into the search after missing her first semester at college, but even to this day Nabiki still had her ears open for any hint of Ranma or Akane. Even the funeral couldn't dissuade her from the search.

Passing the half way point to her home, Kasumi considered the changes in her own life in the intervening years. Once Nabiki finally left for college, Kasumi's housework had greatly diminished. The eldest Tendo daughter finally allowed herself something SHE wanted to do: she started nursing school at the local community college. And there, she met Gendo.

Mizuno Gendo was a young man only a year older than her studying pre-med, but his calm confident attitude and caring, compassionate manner captured her heart almost from the first. Since pre-med and nursing share many early classes, Kasumi found herself sharing three of her five classes with the young would-be doctor. He was everything she had wished Tofu had been, everything she heard he was when she wasn't around, but Tofu had disappeared long before Akane and Ranma, vanished on a sabbatical from which he never returned. After two semesters of taking classes with Gendo, Kasumi changed her major to pre-med, and the two began dating.

Kasumi sighed as she thought of Gendo; he never did become a doctor. After another year of classes, Kasumi and Gendo had announced their intent to marry, and they did only three months later. Shortly after their honeymoon at a small hot springs resort in central Honshu, Kasumi became pregnant, and nine short months later she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

The proud parents continued to make their way through pre-med, and later they moved to Juuban in Minato ward to continue on to medical school. Gendo progressed through school faster than Kasumi because she'd taken a semester off for her pregnancy, but after that they took turns taking part-time semesters to take care of their child.

Then, finally, it came time for Gendo to begin his internship at Juuban Municipal. Kasumi still had one semester of medical school before her own internship began, but she was happy for her husband. That's when yet another tragedy struck her life. One day, shortly into his internship, Gendo was on his way home from the hospital when he was shot. The police believed that it was an attempted robbery, but that didn't help Kasumi. With her medical knowledge, Kasumi knew that her husband could have been saved, but no one around him knew CPR. He lay there, not breathing, for eight minutes. When the paramedics arrived they were able to resuscitate his vital functions, but there was no upper brain activity. Kasumi was forced to terminate life support and let her husband go; a few tears escaped her closed eyes as she thought of that time.

Briefly, Kasumi opened her eyes. Seeing that she was still some distance from her stop, the middle-aged doctor lapsed back into her memories. After Gendo's death, Kasumi couldn't function for some time. Her daughter was only three at the time, so she did the only thing she could: she moved back to the dojo in Nerima.

Kasumi had become a woman of two faces for quite a while after her husband's death. Unable to face the loss of the man she loved, the eldest Tendo daughter had retreated behind a brittle mask resembling the time she had had to act as a mother to her younger sisters, but many a night that mask was shattered by her grief. Only with Nodoka's help was Kasumi able to get through that time, and the older woman, knowing grief well from losing her son, had been Kasumi's pillar of strength when she simply couldn't go on.

Finally, after nearly a year, Kasumi returned to medical school. When she and her daughter moved back to Juuban, her father decided to move in with the Saotomes. The Tendo dojo was left vacant.

Kasumi had finished medical school with honors only one semester later, and she started her own internship at Juuban Municipal in the emergency room. Gendo's death had changed Kasumi's original intention to become a pediatrician, and now she would work to save people in need of immediate care.

The driver's announcement of her stop shook Kasumi from her reverie, and the middle-aged woman stood and exited the bus. Walking the last block to the small apartment she shared with her now sixteen-year-old daughter, Kasumi tried to turn her mind to happier thoughts. She thought about what she would cook for dinner and about her next day off when she would try to spend time with her daughter. Days off for an emergency trauma doctor were few and far between, but Kasumi was determined to make the most of them.

Finally reaching her building, Kasumi climbed the steps to the third floor and entered her apartment.

"Ami-chan," she called into the darkened interior of the small suite of rooms. "Tadaima."

After a moment, Kasumi's sixteen-year-old daughter walked out of her bedroom. She was a beautiful girl with the slim, elfin face of her mother and her father's cerulean-black hair. Still dressed in her school uniform, the girl's sparkling blue eyes smiled at Kasumi, and Ami rushed forward to hug her mother.

"Mom!" she said, holding the older woman tightly. "I didn't think you were going to be home until late."

"I managed to get off early," replied the elder Mizuno. "I thought we might have dinner together."

It was then that Kasumi noticed another girl with the strangest hairstyle watching mother and daughter from the door to Ami's bedroom. Recognizing Ami's friend, Kasumi greeted, "Oh, hello Usagi-chan."

"Konbanwa Mizuno-sensei," replied the blonde.

Kasumi smiled. "Would you like to join us for dinner, Usagi-chan?"

The blond smiled brightly before replying. "I'd love to."

--

A shorthaired, middle-aged woman tossed in her sleep. Goose feather pillows and silk sheets adorned the large, king size bed where she lay, but the extravagant bedding did nothing to mitigate the woman's nightmare. She moved and twisted, the sheets coiling around her like a snake. And Tendo Nabiki dreamed.

Nabiki stood in Narita airport. The nightmare was one she had often, but the fact that she knew this was a dream didn't put her at ease. Ranma and Akane were boarding their plane to Okinawa, and Akane turned to Nabiki before entering the gate.

"Thank you so much, Oneechan!" cried Akane, throwing her arms around Nabiki's neck, and then there were two Nabikis. The first reacted just as she had that day; letting the mask of the ice queen fall for a moment, that Nabiki hugged her sister tearfully and made a smiling, sarcastic comment about what Akane would do on her honeymoon. The other Nabiki tried to scream at Akane, ask her not to go. As usual, Akane only heard the first, and then the young couple was gone.

As was common in this nightmare, Nabiki skipped the next two weeks, and then she was again standing in Narita. However, this part of her dream had never happened in the real world.

Nabiki stood in the terminal at Narita at about four thirty in the morning, and she knew without knowing that it was the day Akane and Ranma were to return. Every time she had this dream the same thing happened. Nabiki would watch as Ranma and Akane walked out into the terminal, smiling and laughing at some joke she never knew. And just like every other time, Nabiki could see the distortion coming.

Tears in her eyes, Nabiki rushed forward. She shouted to the couple, trying to save them, trying to make things different. Of course, it never helped. The couple, blissfully unaware of the distortion closing with them from behind, continued to walk at a leisurely pace. Nabiki's shouts never reached their ears, and the businesswoman squeezed her eyes shut as the ripple closed with her sister and brother-in-law, hungering to take them.

She didn't need to see to know what was going to happen. It was the same every time: the ripple would rush over her family members and they would vanish as though they were never there. However, something wouldn't allow Nabiki to keep her eyes closed while the couple was swallowed by the anomaly, and the middle Tendo sister's eyes flew open just as the distortion washed over Akane and Ranma.

A gasp was Nabiki's world for a moment. Instead of the usual dream outcome, the distortion had no effect on either of the young lovers, and though it was irrational, just for a moment, Nabiki let herself believe that everything would be all right. Just for a moment.

The dream ended very differently from the usual one. Akane and Ranma burst into a run just after the ripple passed, and as they left the airport, Nabiki sank to her knees, crying. The dream faded around her sorrow and pain, and the most successful woman in Tokyo awoke to the darkness of her bedroom.

--

An ancient woman sat quietly in her room above a restaurant, a candle flickering fitfully the only witness to her meditations. Well over three hundred years old, the woman had long since given up sleep in favor of the meditation of reverie. With this technique, the old woman only needed to sacrifice a single hour to rest each day, but during this time she would relive random memories. Some were pleasant memories of home, of learning to be a true Joketsuzoku when she was just a girl or hunting with her sisters in the wilds of Jusendo. Others were sad or frightening: her first encounter with the Musk and when she had had to curse her own great granddaughter to satisfy Amazon law and honor.

However, the memory chosen for tonight's rejuvenative meditation was one that would have been happy (though a bit embarrassing) had fate not twisted it painfully. And so the memory began.

It was the end of one of Nerima's many battles. Ranma and Mousse stood facing each other in the much-abused vacant lot near the Tendo dojo while Shampoo and Akane stood on the sidelines, watching the men fight. The duel had reached a mutual pause when Cologne arrived, but it was obvious from the damage and numerous weapons scattered about that the battle was a fierce one. To punctuate that point, bruises covered Mousse's face, and Ranma was bleeding from two or three small cuts.

Seeing just one more pointless battle in the war to win Ranma, Cologne chuckled quietly, but another sound quickly removed any humor from her countenance.

"Mousse!" Shampoo called enthusiastically. "You can win, Mousse!"

The Joketsuzoku elder looked at her great granddaughter in shock; even as a joke, Shampoo would never cheer for Mousse during a duel, especially one where Ranma was fighting. Cologne's shock increased even more as Mousse ignored Shampoo's cheering. 'This isn't possible," thought the old woman. 'Something must have been done to them.'

Her thoughts were interrupted as Shampoo called "Go, Mousse!" again, and Cologne took a closer look at the two girls watching the duel. The matriarch's charge seemed to be her usual happy, bubbly self, but Akane was another matter. She seemed to have a dazed look on her face, one that Cologne recognized as a mixture of amazement and confusion. Obviously, she didn't know what was going on, so that left only Ranma or Mousse, and with Mousse's uncharacteristic behavior, that left only the son-in-law in her mind.

Cologne almost fell off of her staff when she tried to imagine the groom using magic against his Amazon suitor, and by the time she'd regained her composure, the fight had begun once more. Cologne decided that the strange behavior could wait until the end of the fight.

The battle had recommenced with Ranma leaping to a jump kick toward Mousse's head, but the myopic boy was already throwing everything (including the kitchen sink) Ranma's way. Of course, Ranma's speed and skill in mid-air combat allowed him to dodge all of the projectiles, but what surprised Cologne was the lack of whining from Mousse. Just as she started pondering this, the close-in battle began, and what she saw took Cologne's breath away.

Mousse was matching Ranma move for move and blow for blow, an impossible feat for the boy a mere two months ago. By the time Cologne had finally caught her breath again, the combatants had again paused, both breathing heavily. This time, the girls rushed forward, and yet more uncharacteristic behavior was displayed. Not only did Akane hand Ranma a towel without insulting him, but Shampoo ran immediately to Mousse and did the same.

Finally a piece of this puzzle became clear as Mousse walked toward Ranma slowly and put out his hand. "Good spar, Ranma," he said, smiling.

Ranma, for his part, smiled back, took Mousse's hand, and shook it firmly. "You're getting a lot better, Mousse."

'Obviously,' Cologne realized, 'the son-in-law has been training Mousse. But they've never been on good enough terms for that.'

To Cologne's continued amazement, Shampoo was still fawning over Mousse, and Mousse was continuing to ignore the object of his love. This bore looking into, and the ancient woman hopped on her staff over to Ranma.

"Son-in-law," she said slowly. "I'd like to talk to you. Would you mind coming back to the Nekohanten with me?"

"Sure, Honored Elder." Ranma's reply was almost enough to cause the old matriarch to face fault; only years of intense discipline allowed her to remain on her staff. Then again, all that training wasn't enough to save her when Shampoo kissed Mousse.

WHAMM!!

Cologne slowly picked herself up out of the dirt and looked at her lavender-haired great granddaughter as the girl tried to win an intense tongue war with Mousse. For a moment, Cologne allowed the possibility that Mousse might be worthy of her charge, but only for a moment.

"Alright, that's enough," Cologne almost shouted. This complete departure from the usual was getting on her nerves. "What the hell is going on here?"

As if he meant to make things just that much worse, Ranma slipped an arm around Akane's waist and asked, "What ever do you mean, granny?"

Having lost what little patience she had left, Cologne unceremoniously slammed her staff down on Ranma's head. While normally this wouldn't do much more than cause a little pain, Cologne was angry, and this amounted to one unconscious Ranma. Not even waiting for Akane to protest her actions, the Joketsuzoku elder picked her would-be son-in-law up by his collar and jumped away over the Neriman rooftops.

Finally, Cologne arrived at her destination: a small park near the Nekohanten. She dropped Ranma in a pile near the swings and lit her pipe; if her calculations were correct, he should be waking from her blow any second. Indeed, just as she got her pipe going, Ranma awoke with a groan followed by his customary "Wadja do that for?"

Cologne smiled for a moment before answering, thankful that some things were still the same. Then she replied, "I know you've done something to Shampoo and Mousse, and I'm not letting you go anywhere until you tell me what it is."

To her surprise, Ranma didn't offer denials or excuses. In fact, the young Musabetsu practitioner smirked in a very Nabiki-like manner when he answered. "I decided I was tired of being the prize in your little hunt, old ghoul, so I took one a' yer love potions an' used it on Shampoo. According to the instructions, if it ain't cured by sunset, she'll love 'im forever."

Cologne's eyes widened as Ranma explained, and she gasped when he described the love potion's effects. She recognized it, and luckily, she had the cure back at the restaurant. However, that didn't answer all of her questions.

"Ranma," she said in a hard voice. "That doesn't explain Mousse. What did you do to him?"

"Mousse?" Ranma spent a moment in thought. "I didn't do anything to 'im. Ohhhh! You mean why he's gotten so much better and he's not pining over Shampoo! I've just been training 'im over the last month. I told 'im I'd help 'im get Shampoo, but 'e had ta follow my instructions exactly. Looks like it worked…at least with the love potion, anyway."

Despite being angry with Ranma for doing all this, she couldn't help but respect that kind on ingenuity. Cologne chuckled for a moment, but then she asked, "Ranma, are you really so adamantly opposed to marrying Shampoo? Was this really necessary?"

Ranma scowled. "I don't see what else I coulda done! You guys were using all that magic junk against me, an' Shampoo woulda been punished pretty bad if she went back without a husband, right? So I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone, ya know? Get my revenge for all those dirty tricks and keep Shampoo from gettin' punished. I mean, I don't hate you amazons; I jus' don't like bein' manipulated an' all."

Finally, Cologne laughed. For once the groom had a good point: turnabout was fair play, and Cologne really couldn't blame him for not wanting to be manipulated.

"So, you intend to marry that girl Akane?"

Almost instinctively, Ranma started to reply, "What?! That uncute tomboy!?" but then, his face softened visibly, a smile almost forming on his lips. "Yeah, honored elder. I am gonna marry 'er. She may be an uncute tomboy, but she's my uncute tomboy, an' I wouldn't 'ave it any other way."

Finally, Cologne understood. There would be no persuading Ranma to marry Shampoo; he'd made up his mind. In the end, the amazon elder had expected something like this, if not so well thought out and played. For some time she'd had a contingency plan, and now the matriarch of the Joketsuzoku decided it was time to enact it.

"Ranma," the old woman began. "I'll make you a deal. If you and Akane both agree to join our tribe, I won't cure Shampoo. Since you've been training him, it looks like Mousse might very well be worthy of my great granddaughter, and since you've been so kind to her in your rejection, I can be willing to compromise."

Ranma looked thoughtful for a moment, and he surprised Cologne again by answering, "Tell you what, granny. Lemme talk to Akane an' we'll both stop by the Nekohanten later with an answer."

"Very well, 'son-in-law'," answered Cologne. "Just remember that I have to cure her before sunset if you don't agree, so the deal's off in four hours."

Ranma smirked at the name, but there was a strange ease between young and old since Cologne had given the martial artist some modicum of respect. "Don't worry, 'old ghoul,' I'll remember." And with that, Ranma ran off.

Cologne's eyes opened as the memory drew to a close, her eyes staring into the candle's flickering flame. Ranma and Akane had indeed come by the Nekohanten that night, and after asking quite a few very pointed questions, the young couple had agreed to her terms.

One month after the agreement was made, Ranma and Akane got married. Cologne agreed to allow the young couple their honeymoon before they traveled to Jusendo for formal induction into the tribe. Ranma would have joined as a female, and Cologne truly had high hopes that her former son-in-law would have become an elder herself one day.

But that was eighteen years ago. Ranma and Akane had vanished just after returning from their honeymoon, and with that, all of Cologne's hopes for her tribe shattered. After returning to Nyuucheizu with Mousse and Shampoo to present them to the council, Cologne had returned to the Nekohanten alone. Shampoo and Mousse visited her two or three times a year, but she mainly spent her time alone.

Officially, Cologne was maintaining the restaurant in Japan as a Joketsuzoku way station and safe house, but in the council-members' minds and in fact, Cologne was in self-imposed exile until she could either find Ranma and Akane or avenge them. Even though they weren't true members of the Joketsuzoku, Cologne was still grooming Ranma to become an heir to her knowledge and position, and Akane was his life mate. She felt responsible for them, and so she remained in Japan.

The old woman sighed; just for a moment, she felt every minute of her age like lead in her bones. Finally, Cologne stood and flicked on the light. Once she'd extinguished and put away the candle, the elder extracted a book almost as ancient as she was and moved to sit, but her nightly reading was not to be. Just as she reached her old rocking chair, the phone rang.

Now, a phone ringing in a restaurant is not normally a very uncommon occurrence, but when that same situation is placed in the time frame of five o'clock in the morning at a restaurant only open from eleven to nine, one can see how it might be considered strange.

The ancient Joketsuzoku elder muttered to herself as she made her way down into the restaurant's dining room. Nabiki had urged her to put a phone upstairs, but she believed it would be more of a disruption than a blessing. Now, she was re-evaluating that supposition, but her grumbling ceased when she answered the call.

"Moshi moshi." Cologne's voice sounded annoyed and gravelly even to her own ears.

"Elder Cologne." Tendo Nabiki's voice at the other end of the line piqued Cologne's interest. Just after Ranma and Akane disappeared, Nabiki had almost fallen apart.

While everyone knew about her breakdown, Cologne was the only one who knew the actual cause. Nabiki's dreams had nearly driven her insane; for the first few months after the young couple vanished, Nabiki had had the same dream every night, sometimes more than once a night. It was only with Cologne's help that she had finally been able to get on with her life, though she still didn't drop the search for the missing pair. Since Cologne had helped her, she and Nabiki had become very close, and a call from the eldest woman still called Tendo always rated some importance in the Joketsuzoku Matriarch's mind.

"Nabiki-chan," Cologne said, her voice soft, even a bit caring. "What's the matter? I haven't heard you this upset in some time."

While most people wouldn't have heard anything but her usual, frigid tone in Nabiki's voice, some people could penetrate her mask of ice. Cologne was one of those few.

"I…I dreamed again, tonight," Nabiki replied hesitantly, her voice cracking slightly.

"I know the dream upsets you, Nabiki-chan, but you are going to have to put it behind you. Honestly, you can't call me anytime you have the same dream you've been having for the last eighteen years." The tone of Cologne's voice robbed most of the sting from her words; the line was silent for a moment.

"I—I understand, Cologne-san," Nabiki finally replied. "I'm sorry for bothering you."

'She must be more shaken up about the anniversary than I thought,' Cologne thought.

"Don't worry about it, Nabiki-chan," said Cologne. "Tell you what. Come by the restaurant tomorrow and we'll talk about it."

"Alright," said the Tendo woman, her voice a little stronger. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Oyasumi, Nabiki-chan."

"Oyasumi-nasai, obaasan."

--

Author's Notes:

As with the prologue (as said in that AN above), I am resurrecting this story under a new title; one that has gotten my creative juices flowing stronger in regards to this story than they have in a very long time. In any case, I hope to complete chapter two fairly soon. Later, all.


	3. Chapter 2: Where Past Meets Present

Shadows of Time

A Ranma ½ / Sailor Moon crossover fanfic by jimra

I don't claim these characters…well, most of them anyway…all of them so far. I have enough trouble with taxes; I don't need to get in trouble with copyright law.

Chapter Two: Where Past Meets Present

--

Taking the train in from Juuban to Furinkan every morning was something of a pain, but Ukyou didn't think it too much a burden. Almost every day since she had moved there at the behest of her husband, the okonomiyaki chef had made the trip, only recently hiring another chef to take over the Monday through Thursday operation of her restaurant. After eighteen year, even she sometimes wondered why she still kept Ucchan's open, but somewhere deep within her heart, she just couldn't let go of her past, even now, with a husband and teenage daughter.

As Ukyou made her way from the Furinkan station toward her restaurant, the brown-haired woman reflected on the past. Ranma had come to her about a month before his wedding to her sometime friend, Tendo Akane, with a surprise: apparently he had finally beaten the location of her father's yattai out of his father. The pigtailed boy had taken a weekend trip to the cave where the worthless panda had hidden the mobile food cart, and over the course of two weeks, Ranma had repaired it, replacing any equipment that was damage beyond repair. As such, Ranma had presented a pristine, if somewhat antiquated, yattai to her, pleading with her to let the engagement drop in favor of friendship.

At the time, Ukyou had flown off the handle, trying to bludgeon her pigtailed love with her battle spatula, but has he dodged and tried to speak soothingly to her, Ukyou's rage melted into depression. She had burst into tears, paradoxically throwing herself into the arms of the man who had just caused her heart to ache. Being held like that, just for a moment, was like he had chosen her, and for the briefest of heartbeats, she allowed that feeling to swell in her heart. Then it was gone, and the brown-haired chef was left only feeling the light embrace of a friend, stroking her back and trying, in vain, to make her feel less hurt.

Once Ukyou had calmed, she asked Ranma for a week to think about it, and Ranma had answered that she could have as much time as necessary. Leaving the food cart (and astounding Ukyou, who had thought it to be a bribe to get her to release the engagement), the dark-haired martial artist walked away, leaving a contemplative Ukyou behind.

Over the course of that week, Ukyou spoke to both Konatsu and her father about the situation, and while her kunoichi waiter/waitress certainly had ulterior motives, he gave some sound advice in the matter. Her father, on the other hand, was furious, insisting that she discharge the honor debt by either marrying Ranma or killing both him and his father. If she failed to do one or the other before she was eighteen, her name would be stricken from the Kuonji Clan register. Horrified by his tone, Ukyou had slammed the phone onto its cradle, both angry and appalled by the man's audacity when Ranma was trying to find an honorable way out of the agreement. Konatsu was again helpful in quelling her emotions, and the Kuonji patriarch's reaction to Ranma's olive branch galvanized Ukyou's decision on the matter.

When Ranma returned a week after presenting Ukyou with he yattai, the restaurateur made a single additional requirement, in addition to the food cart, for allowing the agreement to be made null and void, and a week later, after a conversation with Saotome Nodoka, Ukyou no longer cared if her father removed her from the Kuonji Clan; she was already a Saotome. Ranma had only asked that she keep the adoption a secret until after he had dealt with the amazon problem; he didn't want Cologne to get any ideas about getting his new sister engaged to a male Joketsuzoku warrior. He later extended the secrecy, once the wizened elder agreed to drop Shampoo's claim, until he and Akane had performed the Joketsu adoption ritual.

Although, at the time, she didn't think her feelings for her now-brother would ever change, Ukyou agreed to be Akane's maid of honor at their wedding, and Akane had been Akari's maid of honor at Ryoga's wedding shortly thereafter. She even managed to avoid sounding resentful at the reception.

Ukyou had been so looking forward to revealing to all that she was now Ranma's sister, but that wasn't to be. He and Akane had disappeared during their honeymoon; after, according to the information Nabiki later acquired.

The heartbreak was even more devastating than she would have expected from such an event. Ranma was her best friend, recent love interest, and current brother, and the year after the couple's disappearance, Ukyou had felt like a black hole had replaced her heart. Barely able to function, it was a testament to her friendships with the remaining Tendo sisters that she even graduated high school and entered a local college. It was during this despondent time that Konatsu fell away from her, leaving a note telling her that he had been called away by an uncle to return to his father's clan.

Once in college, Ukyou finally found what she was missing in the form of a young man with short blonde hair. Shinji was not a martial artist by any stretch of the term, limiting his athletics to track and volleyball, but something drew Ukyou to him. Perhaps it was his cheerful attitude or his acumen for their mutual course of study, business. Regardless of the cause, Shinji helped Ukyou to return to the land of the living, and after only a month of knowing each other, Shinji asked her out.

Two months later, after a sweep-you-off-your-feet courtship, Shinji proposed, and Ukyou happily accepted. Weddings being associated with pain in the brown-haired chef and her friends, the couple eloped, and when they returned from their impromptu honeymoon, Ukyou found out that she was pregnant. Nine short months later, the former Kuonji and her husband had a beautiful baby girl, with her father's blonde hair and her elfin features.

Seeing that Ukyou had nearly arrived at her restaurant, the brown-haired chef fished in her purse for the key to the building, quickly finding it and unlocking the door. Stepping inside, she started the grill and moved the already-chopped ingredients in the back refrigerator up to the line in preparation for opening. Finally, the okonomiyaki proprietor picked up her shop sign, intending to set it above the door to announce to the world that Ucchan's was open for another day of brisk business.

Opening the door, Ukyou was just about to place the curtain on its holder when a brief glimpse of red out of the corner of her eye drew her attention, and there, walking toward her, was a vision that could not be real. Eyes widening and mouth dropping open soundlessly, Ukyou tried to wrap her mind around what she was seeing, but the unfortunate woman was unable, and the darkness of unconsciousness claimed her in a dead faint.

--

Seeing the strange woman faint, Ranma rushed forward to catch her, Akane at his side. Looking into her face, the pigtailed martial artist was struck at her astounding resemblance to Ukyou: all he would have to do is cut out a couple of decades of age, and she would look just like his best friend and new sister.

"Who is she, Ranma?" asked Akane, breaking into his thoughts, and he looked up at his wife, blankly shaking his head. "She looks so much like Ukyou," the raven-haired girl continued, "Could she be her mother?"

"I dunno Akane," answered Ranma, still cradling the woman in his arms. "Ucchan never talked about her mother, and I figured she was dead. 'Course, I thought my mom was dead for a long time, too, so it's possible."

Shrugging, Akane suggested, "Well, why don't we ask Ukyou herself?"

Nodding in agreement to her suggestion, Ranma lifted the woman into his arms and carried her into the restaurant, calling out, "Hey Ucchan, you around?"

Not surprisingly, for the early hour, the restaurant was vacant of customers, but the fact that neither Ukyou nor Konatsu was in the main eating area was strange. Akane, walking past her husband, ducked into the kitchen, and a moment later, she said, "There's no one here."

"Maybe Ucchan overslept," Ranma mused, heading for the stairs. "At least we can let this lady rest on one of the futons upstairs after we wake her up."

Ranma heard his raven-haired bride fall into step behind him, and the pigtailed martial artist climbed the stairs with his usual efficiency, using a toe to knock on Ukyou's bedroom door once he arrived. "Hey Ucchan!" he shouted. "You awake?"

Feeling someone slug him on the arm, Ranma shot Akane a hurt look, but she just fiercely whispered, "That's no way to wake someone up!"

After grumbling about how she had woken him up that was lotsa times, Ranma retorted, "Okay, you wake her up."

Tapping lightly on the door, Akane said, "Ukyou, are you up?" Receiving no response, she repeated said action, and after once again being greeted by silence, Akane called out, "I'm coming in."

Ranma waited patiently as the former Tendo opened the door, but he was startled to hear her gasp. Looking over Akane's shoulder, the heir to the Saotome Ryu echoed his wife's action. What had once been Ukyou's cramped bedroom was now, obviously, a storeroom, packed full of supplies for the restaurant below. The couple had come here seeking answers about what they had found at their home, but it seemed that they were only going to find more mysteries.

Sighing, Ranma asked, "Could you check Konatsu's room, Akane? We at least need to find a blanket or futon for her."

Nodding, Akane went to the door of the original storeroom in Ucchan's, which the chef had converted into Konatsu's bedroom. Unsurprisingly, Ranma could see that the room had also returned to its original function as a storage area, but thankfully, there were several stacked futons on one shelf, of which Akane quickly snagged one. After Akane returned and unfolded the thick sleeping mat on the hallway floor, Ranma knelt down and placed the unconscious woman on the soft surface, doing his best to make her comfortable.

After the couple had quietly walked back down into the restaurant proper, Akane said, "Well, I guess we aren't going to get any answers here, for now. Do you want to try over at the Nekohanten?"

"Well, shouldn't we stay here?" inquired Ranma. "I mean, we can't just leave an unconscious woman lying upstairs, and to be honest, something bad musta happened if Ucchan isn't here to open the restaurant."

"Something bad as in 'My family vanished' kind of bad?" answered a sarcastic Akane. "We need to figure out what's going on, Ranma!"

Worried over his new sister, Ranma replied, "C'mon, 'Kane. Let's at least wait until that lady wakes up. Besides, working the restaurant might help us relax a little. I mean, we've both been really stressed after what we found back home."

Sighing, Akane dubiously replied, "Alright, Ranma." A moment later, Ranma saw a mischievous look appear on his bride's face, and the girl ducked into the kitchen. A few seconds later, Akane returned holding a glass of water, and without waiting for him to speak, she had drenched her husband, now wife.

"Wadja do that for?" asked the disgruntled redhead, reflexively squeezing the excess water from her shirt.

Smiling, Akane replied, "Well, Ucchan's need a cute girl to cook, and we both know that my cooking isn't up to par."

Remembering how she had eventually convinced Akane that her cooking wasn't up to snuff, Ranma was more inclined to relief than anger at her wife's actions. "You got a point, 'Kane."

After that, Ranma went into the back to change into one of Ukyou's spare okonomiyaki-seller's garb, complete with spatula bandolier and a spare battle spatula, and about five minutes later, Ucchan's opened with its temporary chef and waitress.

--

Nabiki arrived at the Nekohanten early, almost before it had opened, her driver letting her off three blocks away from the restaurant. It wasn't for her benefit that she had a relaxing walk; Cologne had made it clear that publicity was the last thing the Joketsuzoku wanted in Japan, and the most powerful businesswoman in Tokyo patronizing a small Chinese restaurant in Nerima would occasion such notoriety. That was also why Nabiki was dressed in an unassuming black woman's business suit with an old-fashioned hat and veil, disguising her features and her age.

Upon entering the restaurant, Nabiki quickly scanned the interior, noting that at the early hour, only the two waitresses, teenage Joketsuzoku girls whose names escaped her at the moment. If she recalled correctly, the ruling council would send Cologne a different set of girls every year to learn under her and work in the Nekohanten, but Nabiki didn't often go to the establishment in person any more, preferring to speak to the aged woman over the phone. Her time was rather limited, running a multinational corporation.

Nodding to the two waitresses, Nabiki made her way across the main dining area and entered the kitchen, smiling as she caught sight of Cologne herself overseeing another young Joketsuzoku, this one male, who was currently cooking a batch of ramen. Waiting patiently, as she knew Cologne was already aware of her presence, Nabiki leaned against the doorjamb, affecting a bored, superior expression she knew infuriated her competitors.

After another three minutes of waiting, the Matriarch of the Joketsuzoku amazons finally turned away from her work, greeting Nabiki politely. After replying in kind, Nabiki asked, "If you don't mind, Elder, might we talk somewhere a bit more private?"

Cologne nodded assent, and gesturing for the Tendo daughter to follow, the wizened old woman led Nabiki upstairs to her study. Once there, in a kind voice, Cologne asked, "What had you so troubled last night, child?"

Sighing, Nabiki slowly answered, "Well, as I told you, I dreamed again. The strange part is that the dream ended differently than any other time since they vanished."

Cologne was obviously interested, her eyebrows rising. Prompting the businesswoman to continue, the amazon elder listened raptly.

"It started just the same, with me seeing Akane and Ranma off at the airport," continued Nabiki, her voice showing the barest inkling of the pain she still bore due to the duo's disappearance. "And like always, I was completely unable to stop them. This, just like every other time, the scene shifted to when they arrived back at Narita."

Nabiki took a deep breath before finishing her recollection, hoping that Cologne would tell her that it had some meaning. "When the ripple hit them, nothing happened at all. They were still there, and before the dream ended, Ranma and imoutochan ran off toward the train station."

As she spoke, Cologne had been filling her pipe, but when she mentioned them NOT vanishing with the ripple, the elder paused, looking up. "Nabiki, do you think that there has been some change?"

"I don't know what to think, honored elder," answered the brown-haired woman, still feeling her shaken heart trying, in vain, to penetrate her cool exterior. "That's why I came to you."

Cologne finished filling her pipe and lit it with a spark of ki before answering, her response coming from her mouth with the blue-grey smoke of her first puff. "Let's not be overly optimistic here, child. They have been gone nearly two decades."

"I realize that, elder," Nabiki replied in an even tone. "That doesn't mean that they couldn't have returned."

"Hmm," said Cologne, her tone thoughtful. "Well, if they have returned, where would they go?"

"The most likely place would be the Dojo," answered a confident Nabiki. "After all, their plans were to fly in early so that they could eat breakfast with the family."

"If this hypothetical situation is true," discussed Cologne, "then where have the erstwhile children been?"

"I don't know. I've told you everything I've seen in my dreams."

Obviously coming to a decision, Cologne tapped out her pipe into a wooden bowl she maintained for that purpose, crushing the embers out with a small stick. "Alright, then," she said resolutely. "If your sister and my student have returned, then their most likely first destination would be the Dojo, yes?" After seeing Nabiki nod, she continued, "Then why don't we put hypothetical situations behind us and take a look at the facts. I can leave Blush in charge of the store while we go take a look."

Nodding gratefully, Nabiki followed Cologne back down stairs, where the Joketsuzoku elder instructed one of the waitresses, obviously Blush, to watch over the shop until her return. With that, the two women exited the Nekohanten, heading for the Tendo Dojo.

It took very little time to reach said dojo, as Cologne had set up her restaurant only five blocks from Nabiki's childhood home, and when they arrived, Nabiki cursed, seeing the lock on the gate. "Ever since Daddy moved in with the Saotomes, Kasumi and I haven't come by much. The lock is rusted shut."

"Don't worry, child," replied Cologne, good-naturedly putting an arm around Nabiki under her arms. "This old gal still has plenty spring left in her step."

With that, Cologne, holding a startled Nabiki, leapt to the top of the three-meter-tall dojo wall and then down on the other side. Gasping for breath from the surprise, Nabiki shouted, "Warn me before you do something like that!"

Cologne cackled at her distress, obviously enjoying Nabiki's annoyance. With a huff, the Tendo daughter turned from her aged companion, deciding that it was a better use of her time to investigate the house. Picking her way through the untended garden, Nabiki made her way to the tearoom, but the sight before her caused her to stop short.

"Cologne!" she called, eyes wide at the state of the room. "Someone HAS been here!"

In a flash, the Joketsuzoku elder was at her side, staring at what had caused her shout: all over the tea room were footprints in the dust. "I'm certain that no one has been here in eight months," said Nabiki, feeling hope rising in her breast. "That was when Kasumi said she stopped coming to tend the house."

"Now, now, Nabiki," replied Cologne in a cautionary voice. "We can't be sure it was them. Maybe some teenagers broke in, seeing as this is an abandoned house, or maybe it was a thief."

"Alright, let's see where the footprints lead," answered Nabiki, already believing that her sister and brother-in-law had returned from where ever they had gone. Between her dream and these footprints, hope was truly alive in the normally cynical businesswoman.

After following the footprints throughout the house, first to the family shrine and then to each of the bedrooms, Cologne asked, "Well, assuming it was them, where would they go after discovering the dojo in this condition?"

"I'm sure they would either go to the Nekohanten or Ucchan's," Nabiki answered confidently. If she remembered anything of missing duo, they would try to go to their friends first.

"Well, since they haven't shown up at my doorstep yet, then shall we go pay Ukyou a visit?"

Nabiki nodded in reply, walking out of the house. She would have walked straight there, if not for an immobile door and a sarcastic Cologne asking her if she wanted a lift out of the garden.

--

Ukyou blinked awake, wondering what she had eaten the night before to give her such a strange dream. Maybe it was time to stop making her special okonomiyaki as a midnight snack. Unfortunately for her, she soon realized where she was.

'Why am I sleeping on an old futon in my restaurant?' the chef thought, suddenly ill at ease. Worried strange hallucinations, and some old acquaintances that might have caused them, Ukyou stood, and walking to the storeroom that had once been her bedroom, she rummaged around for her spare battle spatula and bandolier, kept her for emergencies.

After about five minutes later and armed as she hadn't been since about a year after Ranma and Akane disappeared, Ukyou crept down the stairs toward the main dining area of Ucchan's. After traversing about half of the stairs, the noise of people eating reached her ears, and Ukyou raised an eyebrow. 'Who is running the restaurant if I've been up here asleep?' she thought warily.

Being extra-careful not to make any noise, the restaurateur finally made her way to the curtain that hid the stair from customers and cautiously peeked beyond it. In the restaurant proper, several tables of breakfast and early lunch patrons sat, some eating okonomiyaki and other items on the menu. Ukyou puzzled over this strange turn of events for a moment until a waitress with short, blue-black hair stepped into view carrying a tray laden with okonomiyaki, and the chef felt her heartbeat quicken.

'What if what I saw this morning wasn't a hallucination?' she pondered silently. 'But, that would mean—'

Her thoughts cut off abruptly as the waitress turned, beginning to serve the table, and Ukyou couldn't take it anymore. Bursting from her hiding place, and noting a female Ranma, in one of her okonomiyaki chef's outfits, cooking behind the counter, the owner of Ucchan's brandished her battle spatula, yelling out, "Who the hell are you two, 'cause you can't be who you look like!"

--

Stepping lightly off of the train, a sixteen-year-old girl walked through the train station, intent on surprising her mother. Normally, the blonde would barely see her mother on Sundays, since she would go to church with her father, but today, since her father was out of town on business, she wanted to do something extra-special for her mother. Helping out at her mother's restaurant and then buying them both lunch seemed like a great way to do it, though she still didn't know why her mother's restaurant was so far from their home.

Humming a happy tune, the girl practically skipped down the street, looking forward to the day ahead, and she quickly navigated the streets to her mother's place of business. Unfortunately, there appeared to be some sort of ruckus going on inside.

"Who the hell are you two," yelled her mother, "'cause you can't be who you look like!"

There was her mother, armed to the teeth with the weapons she had never successfully taught the girl to use, facing off against two teenage girls probably only a little older than her. Suddenly, before she could further study the odd tableau inside, a familiar voice spoke behind her.

"What is going on here, Minako?"

Turning, said girl answered, "I don't know, Auntie Nabiki, but Mom looks awfully mad about something.

--

Author's Notes:

Cliffhangers; gotta love 'em. Since this is the first new chapter to this fic in many years, I am pleased to announce its official rebirth under the new title. By the way, even if you still remember the prologue and first chapter to Disappearance, enough has changed in its reincarnation as Shadows of Time for me to strongly advise you to go back and reread those two postings.

I hope everyone enjoys this one, and I hope the new plot keeps me writing on it. The muse is fickle, after all. Later, minna.


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